


Iwi

by Lilith_Deckerstar



Category: Bones (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-13
Updated: 2020-09-13
Packaged: 2021-03-07 03:07:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26449756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lilith_Deckerstar/pseuds/Lilith_Deckerstar
Summary: FBI Special Agent Ailani Kekoa is Booth's partner and she joins him, Bones, and the squints in solving the murders of victims whose bodies are too badly decomposed and they deal with the craziness that goes on in all their lives.
Relationships: Jack Hodgins/Angela Montenegro, Original Female Character(s)/ Original Male Character(s), Seeley Booth/Temperance Brennan
Kudos: 1





	Iwi

FBI special agents Seeley Booth and Ailani Kekoa are driving through D.C to the airport to pick up Dr. Temperance Brennan, or “Bones” as Booth likes to call her, one of the best anthropologists and works at the Jeffersonian Institute, who is returning from Guatemala. 

“What makes you think she’ll even listen, Booth?” Kekoa asked. 

“Because we’re the ones who’ll get her out,” He replied. 

“What do you mean?”

“I asked the homeland security to detain her until we get there,” Booth clarified. 

“You do know that will make her hate you even more, right?” Kekoa questioned. 

“Yeah, but it’s a risk I’m willing to take.”

* * *

When they arrived at the airport, Booth, with one of Bones’ book tucked under his arm, and Kekoa found the airport security room. They snuck in the room. In the room, besides them, were a TSA and Homeland Security Agents, and Bones. 

“You were illegally transporting human remains, Ma’am. And you assaulted a Homeland Security agent,” The Agent told Bones. 

“Look, I’m sorry if I embarrassed you in front of your friends, but next time, you should identify yourself before attacking me,” She pointed out to the Agent before turning to Booth and Kekoa at the door, “What are you doing here?” 

“FBI. Special Agents Seeley Booth and Ailani Kekoa, ” Booth introduced as he and Kekoa showed their badges to the Agent, “Major Crime Investigation, D.C. Bones identifies bodies for us.” 

“Don't call me Bones,” Bones told him before turning to the Agent, “And I do more than identity.” 

Booth Holds up the book, then sliding it across the table to the other Agent, “She also writes books.” 

The Agent picks up the book, he looks at it noting Brennan's name, “Fine. She's all yours.” 

“Great. Let's grab your skull and let's vamoose,” Booth said to Bones. 

“What! That's it? She's all yours? Why did you stop me?” She questioned. 

“Why does it matter? You're free to go. Let's just grab your bags, click, click, clang, clang…”

“You set me up,” Bones said to Booth before saying to the Agent, “You got a hold for questioning request from the FBI didn't you?”

The Agent looks to Booth, Bones looks at Booth incredulously. Booth knows he's been found out. 

“I love this book,” The Agent said as he hands it back to Bones. 

Bones grabs the book and then the skull, she stalks past Booth and Kekoa, who is holding all of her bags, “Come on.”

* * *

In the SVU, Booth is driving, Bones is in the passenger seat, and kekoa is sitting in the back. 

“That's the best you can do?” Bones questioned Booth and Kekoa. 

“What?” Booth asked. 

“Getting Homeland Security to snatch me so that you can stage a fake rescue,” She told him. 

“Well, at least I picked you up at the airport huh?” Booth gives her a charming little grin which only annoys Bones more, “Hey, come on. I went through the appropriate channels but your assistant there, he stonewalled me!”

“You gave us no choice but to do what we did, Bones,” Kekoa told her. 

“Yeah, well after the last case I told Zach to never, ever to put you through. He's a good assistant,” Bones told Booth, “You can let me out anywhere along here.” 

“Alright, listen. A decomposed corpse was found this morning at Arlington National Cemetery down…” Booth tried to tell her before she interrupted him. 

“Arlington National Cemetery is full of decomposed corpses, it's... a cemetery.” 

“This body wasn’t in a casket,” Kekoa told Bones. 

“If you drive one more block, I'm screaming 'kidnap' out the window,” Bones warned Booth. 

“Do you know what, I'm trying to mend bridges here.”

“Pullover.” 

Booth complies and pulls the SVU over. Bones, Booth, and Kekoa leave the vehicle. 

“I'm going home,” Bones told them as she walks away quickly from Booth and Kekoa who are following her. 

“Great! Could we... Look, could we just skip this part?” Booth asked. 

“I find you very condescending,” She told him. 

“Me? I'm condescending?” Booth questioned, “ I'm not the one who's got to mention that she's got a Doctorate every five minutes.” 

“I am the one with the Doctorate,” Bones stated. 

“Yeah, well you know what? Me and Kekoa are the ones with the badge and the gun huh,” Booth shot back. 

“Hey, don’t pull me into whatever this is,” Kekoa told him. 

“You know, you're not the only forensic anthropologist in town,” He continued. 

Bones laughed before stating, “Yes I am. The next nearest is in Montreal. Parlez-vous francais?” 

“What's it going to take?” Booth asked. 

Bones stops and turns to face him, “Full participation in the case.”

“Fine,” He agreed. 

“Not just lab work, everything,” Bones clarified. 

“What? Do you want me to spit in my hand? We're Scully and Mulder, and Kekoa is Reyes,” Booth told her. 

“I don't know what that means,” She responded. 

“I’ll tell you what it is later,” Kekoa said before asking, “Now, can we please get in the car? We have a case to get to.”

* * *

At Arlington National Cemetery, Bones, Booth, and Kekoa walk down a grassy hill, filled with row upon row of headstones, toward a large pond. 

“What's the context of the find?” Bones asked Booth. 

“Routine landscaping, dropped a load in the local pond, one of the workmen thought he saw something,” He replied. 

A van door with Jeffersonian Medico-Legal Lab emblem, closes to reveal Zach Addy, Brennan's assistant. 

“Hi Zach,” Bones greeted. 

“This eco-warrior look works for you,” Zach commented as he walked with them. 

“Thanks.” 

“Very action-oriented,” He continued. 

“Agents Booth and Kekoa, you remember my assistant Zach Addy?” Bones introduced. 

“Oh yeah…,” Booth replied. 

“Yep,” Kekoa replied, popping the ‘p’. 

“How was Guatemala? Dig up lots of massacred victims? Learn a thing or two about machete strikes?” Zach asked Bones. 

“Zach, I need water samples and temperature readings from the pond,” Bones ordered. 

“Right away Dr. Brennan,” Zack went off to the right. 

“He's got no sense of discretion that kid. Typical Squint…” Booth pointed out. 

“I don't know what that means,” Bones said. 

“When cops get stuck, we bring in people like you. You know? Squints. You know, you squint at things,” Booth explained. 

“Oh, you mean people with very high IQ's and basic reasoning skills,” Bones retorted as she threw her bag to him. 

“Yeah,” Booth said looking chastised. 

“Talk about Revenge of The Nerds,” Kekoa muttered. 

The three of them stepped into the boat and headed out for the middle of the pond.  Bones, Kekoa, and Booth on a boat in the middle of the pond dropping an underwater camera that feeds to a video screen on the boat. 

“What exactly am I supposed to be squinting at?” Bones asked. 

“Oh you know, it's like pornography, you'll know it when you see it,” Booth told her. 

Soon on the video screen a skeleton underwater, wrapped in what looks like chicken wire appears. 

“Yeah okay. This is a crime scene,” Bones stated. 

After the divers had gone in the pond and retrieved the skeleton before carefully placing it on a tarp. It was late in the night, Bones is examining the skeleton on the shore while Zach is taking pictures of the skeleton. 

“Remains are wrapped in four-milled, flat poly-construction sheeting,” Bones noted. 

“PVC coated chicken wire,” Zach informed her. 

“Weighted,” She continued, “That's why the body didn't surface during decomposition. The skeleton is complete but the skull is in fragments.” 

“What can you tell me?” Booth asked as he and Kekoa join them. 

“Not much,” Bones told him, “She was a young woman, probably between 18 and 22, approximately 5'3", race unknown, delicate features.” 

“That's all?” Booth questioned with sarcasm. 

“Tennis player,” She added. 

“How do you get a pretty tennis player out of that yuck?” He asked. 

“Epiphyses fusion gives age,” Zach began to explain. 

“Pelvic bone shape gives sex,” Kekoa continued, having taken A.P Bio in highschool and a mother with a job as a conoroner. 

“Bursitis in the shoulder, somebody this young, must be an athletic injury,” Bones finished. 

“When did she die?” Booth asked her. 

“Ehhhh.....” 

“Ehhhh…”Booth mocked before asking, “ What does that even mean? 

“Means wait until our bug and slime guy takes a look,” Zach explained. 

“No clothing,” Bones noted. 

“You know, in my line of work, no clothes usually means a sex crime,” Booth said. 

“In my line of work, it could also mean the victim favored natural fibers,” She told him. 

“Your suit, for example, will outlast your bones by decades,” Zach told Booth. 

“Collect silt, 3 meters radius, to a depth of 10 cm,” Bones told Zach before turning to Booth and Kekoa,” Your FBI forensics team can take the plastic and the chicken wire, we'll take the rest.” 

* * *

At the FBI, Booth and Kekoa are sitting in an office facing an older gentleman, their boss, Deputy Director Cullen. 

“So, you guaranteed a squint a field role in an active murder investigation,” Cullen said. 

“Yes sir,” Booth confirmed. 

“The one that wrote the book?” He asked. 

“Yes sir,” Booth confirmed again. 

“Thought you said that she wouldn't work with you anymore,” Cullen reminded him. 

“Well, the last case we worked she provided a description of the murder weapon and the murderer but I didn't give her much credence,” Booth clarifed. 

“Why not?” he asked. 

“Because she did it by looking at the victim's autopsy x-rays, sir,” Kekoa replied. 

Cullen snorts, “ Well I wouldn't give it much credence either.”

“Turns out she was right on both and the pond victim, Sir. Dr. Brennan was able to give me the victim's age, sex and favourite sport,” Booth listed. 

“Which is?” Cullen asked, chuckling. 

“Tennis, sir,” Kekoa answered. 

“She's good,” Cullen commented in awe. 

“Oh, she's amazing. If the only way I can get her back to my side is to bring her out in the field, I'm willing,” Booth told him. 

“Well, Squints like to stay safe, back at the lab. What's with Brennan?” He asked them. 

“Remember a case back in the early 90's, a couple goes missing on the interstate, car was found at a rest stop?” Booth asked Cullen. 

“Yeah,” Cullen replied, “Upstate New York, upstanding citizens, nobody found anything…”

“Those are Brennan's parents,” He informed him. 

Cullen thinks for a moment before answering, “Fine. She's on you. Take a Squint out in the field, she's your responsibility.”

“Thank you, sir,” Booth and Kekoa responded. 

* * *

At the Medico-Legal Lab at the Jeffersonian, Angela's office. Booth is admiring a large piece of art on her wall and Kekoa stands waiting. 

“This is interesting, Angela,” Booth commented. 

“Good morning” Bones greeted as she walks into the room, “Does Booth and Kekoa know how this works?”

“This computer program, which I designed, patent pending, accepts a full array of digital input, processes it and then projects it as a three dimensional holographic image.” Angela explained. 

“Ok,” Booth said. 

“You get that?” Bones asked him. 

“Yeah, that and the patent pending part,” He responded as a smart ass. 

“Brennan reassembled the skull and applied tissue markers,” Angela said. 

“Her skull was badly damaged, but racial indicators, cheekbone dimensions, nasal arch, occipital measurements suggest African American,” Bones informed, looking at the Angelator with Hodgins, Booth, Kekoa, and Zach. 

“And.... We have our victim,” Angela said before a full upper body photograph appears in holograph form on the Angelator. 

“Whoa... ,” Booth whispered as he wiggles his fingers through the hologram, “Have to admit, that's pretty cool.”

Bones removes Booth's hand before saying, “Ang, rerun the program substituting Caucasian values,” The image alters slightly, “Does she look familiar to anyone?”

Booth shakes his head in disbelief, “No…” 

“Split the difference, mixed race,” Bones told Angela. 

“Lenny Kravitz or Vanessa Williams?” She asked. 

“I don't know what that means,” Bones said. Angela makes the change and the image is altered again, and Booth is taken aback, ‘Angela, reduce tissue depth over the cheekbones to the jaw line. Does anyone recognize her?” 

“Not me,” Zach answered. 

“Wait, is that who I think it is?” Angela voiced. 

“The girl who had the affair with the Senator?” Zach guessed. 

“Booth: Her name is Cleo Louise Eller. Only daughter to Ted and Sharon Eller. Last seen approximately 9pm, April 6, 2003 leaving the Cardio Deluxe Gym on K Street, she didn't even make it to her car,” Booth told them. 

“Pretty good memory," Bones commented. 

“Yeah well, it's my job to find her,” He told her. 

“Well, in that case, congratulations on your success,” Hodgins said and Kekao elbows him in the arm. 

“This isn't exactly the way I wanted it to end,” Booth said. 

On the steps outside the Jeffersonian, the squints, who were eating lunch, Bones, Booth and Kekoa were discussing the case. 

“Cleo Eller is not just some missing girl,” Booth said. 

“Yeah, she's a senate intern who was boinking Senator Allen Bethlehem,” Hodgins pointed out. 

“Have some respect for the dead, dipshit,” Kekoa retorted at Hodgins with annoyance. 

“I was secondary in the investigation to the disappearance of that girl and we couldn't confirm that,” Both told him before asking Bones, “How did you recognize her before she even had her own face?”

“I recognized the underlying architecture of her features, the rest is just window dressing,” She replied. 

“I'm not an expert but, shouldn't he be happier?” Zach asked her. 

“Oh no, believe me, I'm happy,” Booth said. 

“He's not happy because Senator Bethlehem chairs the Senate Committee overseeing the FBI,” Hodgins 

“You seem happy to me,” Angela said. 

“I need this kept quiet,” Booth told Angela, Hodgins, and Zach. 

“Ha! Cover up!” Hodgins exclaimed. 

“Paranoid conspiracy theory,” Booth called Hodgins as he and Kekoa walked down the steps away from the Squints and Brennan follows them.

“Is it paranoia that Monica Lewinsky was a KGB trained sex agent mole?” Hodgins questioned. 

“Where exactly is the physical and hard proof evidence to back that up?” Kekoa shot back. 

Bones walks beside Booth and Kekoa across the Jeffersonian lawn, “So what do you do first, confront the Senator?”

“Listen, Bones, I know…”

“Don't call me Bones!” She interrupted Booth. 

“I know we talked about you coming out in the field and all…” Booth started. 

“Ughh.. You Rat bastard!” Bones groaned. 

“Dr. Brennan, this is a big case and there is no doubt that the Director is going to create a special investigation,” Kekoa informed her. 

“And if I line all my ducks up in a row I could maybe, maybe I can head it up,” Booth added. 

“I don't know what that means but I think I could be a duck,” Bones said. 

“You're not a duck ok! On this one we stick to the book. Cops on the street, Squints in the lab,” He told her. 

“Well in that case, the Jeffersonian will be issuing a press release identifying the girl in the pond,” She threated. 

“You do that, I'm a dead duck. What are you trying to do?” 

“Blackmail you. Both of you,” Bones answered Booth. 

“Blackmailing two Federal Agents?” Booth questioned. 

“You do know that’s illegal?” Kekoa asked her. 

“Yes,” Bones answered them. 

“I don't like it,” Booth said. 

“I'm fairly certain you're not supposed to,” She stated. 

Booth and Keoka look at each other before Booth says, “Fine. You're in.” 

* * *

That day in Cullen’s office, Keoka, Booth, and Bones met with Cullen to discuss the case. 

“You're certain it's Cleo Eller,” Cullen questioned. 

“The profile's dead on, age, race, height…” Bones began before Booth interrupted her. 

“Plus the timeline fits, I mean Cleo Eller did play tennis in college.”

“Talk to me about the Senator,” Cullen said. 

Booth hands Cullen a photo of Bethlehem, “Cleo Eller, the victim, worked for Senator Bethlehem…”

“It was reported that they were involved sexually,” Bones cuts in. 

“We couldn't confirm that,” Booth said.

“Oh Bethlehem's a hound, everybody knows that,” Cullen stated. 

Kekoa hands Cullen another photo, “Ken Thompson, Cleo's boyfriend.”

“Thompson's still Bethlehem's aid. Thompson keeps Bethlehem's calendar, no way the Senator has an affair that Thompson doesn't know about. No sexual relationship, no motive. What about the ahh, nutcase?”

Booth hands Cullen another photo of a suspect, “Oliver Laurier.” 

“You like him for this?” Cullen asked him. 

“Well he's a stalker,” He

“What's your first move?” He asked Booth and Kekoa.

“We’d like to inform the Eller's that we found their daughter, Sir,” Kekoa answered. 

“It's better to keep this quiet, it's been what, two years? What's another few days?” 

“With all due respect sir, I've come to know the family pretty well, especially the Major and two years is a hell of a long time in my book,” Booth said. 

“Even if it’s not the way they hoped she would be found, the Eller’s still deserve to know, Sir,” Kekoa added. 

“I'll have details of cause of death by this afternoon,” Bones jumped into help after absorbing everything going on around her.

"Then that's where we'll get started," Booth said to her.

* * *

In the SVU, Booth is driving, Kekoa is in the back, and Bones is looking at the Jeffersonian file with a small sample bottle in her hand.

“Hodgins identified the particulates embedded in Cleo Eller's skull as rolled steel most likely from a sledge typed hammer also there's concrete and diatomaceous earth,” Bones said. 

"What's that?" Booth asked her.

Bones hands Booth the sample bottle with a white powder inside, "Looks like that. It's made up of prehistoric sea creatures, it's used as an insecticide, filtering agent, cleaning abrasive, ceramics... It's very common.”

“Diatomaceous earth. Common or not, it's a clue.”

“And one of the few we got,” Kekoa added.

* * *

After driving and informing who they are, Mr. and Mrs. Eller, Cleo’s parents invited them inside and to a very formal living room. Booth, Keoka, and Bones sat across from Mr. and Mrs. Eller. 

“You're positive it's our Cleo,” Mr. Eller said. 

“We established 22 matching points of comparison…” 

Booth cuts Bones off and giving her a stern look, “Yes. We're certain.” 

“Did he do it?” Mr. Eller asked Booth, “The Senator. One military man to another.”

“Major Eller, we can't discuss the investigation in any way,” He responded. 

“Can you at least tell us if our daughter suffered?” Mrs. Eller asked them. 

“Given the state of her skull…”

“Cleo never saw it coming, Mr. and Mrs. Eller,” kekoa interrupted Bones. 

“Thank you,” Mr. Eller said. 

“Mrs. Eller, can you tell us what Cleo wore around her neck?” Bones asked her. 

“Her father's Bronze Star,” Mrs. Eller pointed a picture of Mr. Eller being awarded the Bronze Star, “Ted won it in the first Gulf War then, he gave it to her for luck.”

Mrs. Eller then breaks down and Booth looks to Bones. After finishing the interview, the three left the Eller’s home and were walking back to the SUV. 

“Those people deserved the truth,” Bones told them. 

“They found their daughter, but she was murdered,” Kekoa said, “They deserve the kindness of a lie.”

“There'll be an inquest report.”

“Which they won't read because they don't want to, especially because toward the end, Cleo and her parents weren't even speaking,” Booth told her. 

“They told you that?” Bones asked. 

“You know, getting information out of live people is a lot different than getting information out of a pile of bones, you have to offer up something of yourself first,” He retorted. 

“What exactly did you do in the military?” She inquired. 

“See? See what you did right there Bones?” Booth questions with hints of annoyance and anger in his voice, “You asked a personal question without offering anything personal in return and since I'm not a skeleton, you get zilch. Sorry.”

The three got into the SUV and drove away. 

* * *

It was later that day when Bones, Kekoa, and Booth were with Cullen, in his office, standing with his arms crossed looking very pissed. They were discussing what Bones had done to the Senator and his aid. 

“When you work for the FBI Dr. Brennan, you're a Federal Agent, government property, I own you,” Cullen told her. 

“I'm not certain that's accurate sir,” Bones said. 

“Well how's this for accurate. I could place you under arrest on a Federal charge right now for uttering threats against a United States Senator,” He warned her. 

“What…” She began. 

“Bones…” Booth hushed her. 

“I own her, but she was your responsibility,” Cullen reminded him and Kekoa.

“Yes sir.”

“Send in Special Agent Furst,” Cullen spoke through the intercom before saying to Booth and Kekoa, “I warned you about taking squints out to the field but you vouched for her, said she wouldn't screw up.”

“Yes sir,” Booth and Kekoa said. 

“No! No! Booth and Kekoa didn't know I was going to see the Senator,” Bones defended them, “I wanted to get a sample of his DNA.” 

“Exactly,” Cullen said to Booth and Kekoa. 

“Not helping, Bones....” Kekoa whispered to her. 

Agent Furst then enters the office as Cullen sits down behind his desk.

“Tomorrow morning I'm announcing the formation of a special unit to investigate the murder of Cleo Eller at which time your investigation will be officially terminated,” Cullen informed them before telling Booth, “You will not head the new unit.”

“Congratulations Patrick,” Booth said, addressing Agent Furst without looking at him and not trying to hide the disdain from his voice. 

“No hard feelings,” Furst said. 

“Right,” He returned. 

“I need the complete case files in the morning.”

“Of course, they'll be ready,” Both told Furst. 

“Thank you, Agent Furst,” Cullen said. Furst then left the office. 

“At least Dr. Brennan found out that the Senator Bethlehem was having sex with Cleo,” Booth said as he was getting up to leave. 

“I did?” Bones questioned. 

“Report said there wasn't enough DNA in the fetal bones to determine paternity,” Cullen reminded Booth.

“Senator Bethlehem didn't want Dr. Brennan to take that gum.”

“He's hiding something,” Kekoa added. 

“He didn't know there wasn't enough DNA,” Bones said to Cullen. 

“I suggest you ummm, go back to your lab Dr. Brennan and get used to being there,” He told her. 

“Come on Bones... “ Booth noticed something wrong with Bones as they are leaving Cullen's office, “You okay?” 

“Don't be nice to me after I got you in trouble,” She told him. 

“Your heart was in the right place,” Kekoa tried to reason with her. 

“No, I'm not a heart person, both of you are heart people, I'm a brain person. You vouched for me.”

“Forget it…” Booth began.

“No, I won't. you think it was the Senator?” Bones asked him. 

“Look, the Senator has had sex with a dozen of these interns,” He started. 

“But he hasn’t killed any of them,” Kekoa added.

“Right, our best bet is still the stalker,” Booth finished. 

“You want to check him out, we can, I don't, what do you call it, roost him?” Bones suggested. 

“Rouse,” Booth corrected her with a smirk. 

“Rouse,” She repeated, “Well the murderer snatched a Bronze Star from Cleo's neck so…” 

“I've got twelve hours before this case is over and I'm off it so, let's go rouse.”

* * *

While Bones go to the door of Oliver Laurier’s apartment, Kekoa and Booth went through the back way. They saw Oliver slam the door in Bones’ face before he turns to run but is stopped by Booth who grabs him by the wrist and puts him to the floor.

“Don't run Oliver,” Booth said calmly. 

A short while later, Oliver is reading the warrant thoroughly as Booth and Kekoa are taking a look around the apartment. 

“Agent Booth is under the impression that you may have something that is pertinent to a case he is working on,” Bones informed Oliver. 

“You're looking for a Bronze Star? Like the one that Cleo wore?” He asked them. 

“Exactly like the one she wore, Mr. Laurier,” Kekoa said. 

“I don't have it,” Oliver told them. 

“Sometimes stalkers retain keepsakes,” Bones said. 

“What the hell are these things huh?” Booth inquired as he picked up a tiny booklet. 

“Miniature lives of the Saints,” Oliver answered, “I hand them out....” 

“Heads up, Bones, Kekoa,” He tosses each one to the both of them.

“I hand them out for donations,” Oliver told them, “I'm not a panhandler, help yourself. I never stalked Cleo.”

“Then why did she get a restraining order?” Bones asked him. 

“Okay, okay, no. First of all no. Ken Thompson, her supposed boyfriend, got the restraining order with his boss, the Senator but Ken is only concerned with his job and his tropical fish. They colluded to ruin my reputation with this specious, stalker label when in actuality, I was Cleo's close friend.”

“Then why'd you run from the warrant?” She questioned. 

“My fight or flight response is heavily weighted toward flight,” Oliver explained, “If there is anything I can do to help you catch Cleo's killer, just tell me.”

“Oh!” Booth exclaimed, “Full confession, that would be great.”

“I love Cleo,” He told them, “Why would I hurt her?”

“We don’t know, but we are trying to figure out who did hurt her,” Kekoa told him. 

“If you don't mind, I'm gonna keep one of these little books,” Bones said to Oliver. 

“Whatever you need, Dr. Brennan,” Oliver responded. 

As they leave, Booth narrows his eyes at Oliver contemplating the new infatuation that Oliver has formed. 

* * *

At the Jeffersonian, in Angela's office, everyone is looking at the holograph simulation of Cleo Eller. 

“This is a rough composite but, you get the idea,” Angela said. 

“Skull trauma was not the cause of death,” Bones stated, “Cleo was stabbed first. She was stabbed 5 to 8 times with a military issued K-Bar knife.”

“And I just completed this rendering. The defensive wounds to the bones of her hands suggest that it wasn't until the third or the fourth penetration that....”

“That's likely the fatal stab right there,” Bones interrupted Agelea, referring to the simulation of Cleo being stabbed.

“..that Cleo stopped fighting back,” Angela finished. 

“I believe that the distinctive damage to her distal phalanges, the tips of her finger bones, was caused by the murderer using a knife to remove her finger pads. Cranial fragmentation suggests a 20lb hammer striking four to five times while the victims head rested on a cement floor containing traces of diatomaceous earth, that's the best explanation for the particulates found in her skull,” She stated, “This was not a crime of passion.”

“Cleo never saw the first stab coming, it didn't arise out of an argument. Why smash Cleo's face, why whittle away her fingertips, remove her clothing and her jewelry?” Angela questioned. 

“Sink her body,” Zach 

“The murderer put more effort into hiding the victim's identity than he did into the murder itself. 

“Almost over-kill, if you ask me,” Kekoa said. 

“In case Cleo was identified, the murderer planted evidence,” Hodgins noted, “The little book that Brennan got from the stalker matches the cellulose I found in Cleo's hand.”

“Military cemetery, military knife implicate her own father. More misdirection,” Angela said. 

“Sound like any conniving, son-of-bitch senators you know?” Hodgins questioned Booth and Kekoa. 

“You expect us, to declare war on a United States Senator based on your little holographic crystal ball,” Book responded. 

“It's not magic,” Bones corrected him, “It's a logical recreation of events based on evidence.”

“No more valid than my gut,” He said. 

“A good hypothesis withstands testing that's what makes it a good hypothesis,” Zach told him. 

“It's not a hypothesis, you have a dead girl and a United States Senator. This is exactly why squints belong in the lab, you guys don't know anything about the real world.”

Bones glares at Booth as she leaves Angela's office, “Come on, we're done here.”

“Wow. Touchy…” Booth said to Angela. 

“You must know about her family. Both parents vanish when she's fifteen?” Angela asked him, “ Probably counts as the real world.”

“Yeah. I know the story, read the file, cops never found out anything,” He told her. 

“Yeah. Brennan figures that if maybe somebody like her had been there…” She began. 

“For someone who hate psychology, she sure has a lot of it,” Booth pointed out. 

* * *

In his office, Booth sitting at his desk and Kekoa standing beside him are watching a home video of Cleo Eller and her family while by plays. Brennan knocks on the door and clears her throat. 

“They look pretty happy, don't they,” Booth commented, “Otherwise they wouldn't turn on the camera I guess.”

“Zach said you wanted to see me,” Bones said. 

“That something you don't like to talk about? Families? Temperance, partners they, share things, builds trust,” He told her. 

“Took him a while to trust me,” Kekoa said to Bones. 

“Since when are we partners?” Bones questioned. 

“I apologize for the assumption,” Booth hands Bones a piece of paper. 

“You got a warrant to search Bethlehem's place?” She said surprised. 

“You were right. If Bethlehem wasn't a Senator, I'd be in that basement, looking for that killing floor. But you're wrong, I was never afraid of that guy and I'm not doing this because you're a genius, I'm doing this for Cleo,” He told her. 

* * *

Late that night, there is a media circus outside Senator Bethlehem's mansion. While a team of investigators is in the mansion, Booth and Kekoa are in a heated conversation with Agent Furst. A moment later, one of the investigators brings a sledgehammer out from the Senator's home in an evidence bag. 

“I don't recognize that that is not mine. That is not mine!” Bethlehem exclaimed in denial. 

“At least we got the hammer,” Bones said as Booth and Kekoa walk up to her. 

“Yeah but that's all we got,” Booth informed her. 

“The cement floor in the basement?” She asked. 

“Yeah, but sorry, no blood, no diatomaceous earth,” Kekoa replied. 

“We needed a trifecta, Bones. Physical evidence, murder weapon, crime scene,” Booth added before he and Kekoa walked away. 

* * *

Not long after, Booth and Kekoa were in his office knowing that there was nothing that they could do in the investigation when Booth’s phone ringed. 

“Booth,” He answered, “Angela? Wait- wait, slow down. No, I think I may have an idea where she’s going. Bye” 

“What’s going on?” Kekoa asked. 

“Bones is going after Ken Thompson. She figured out that diatomaceous earth can be used for fish and that Thompson is going to destroy the evidence we need since he keeps fish and killed Cleo,” Booth informed her. 

“Well, let’s go.”

Kekoa and Booth calmly rushed out of his office and into the SUV before driving off to Ken Thompson’s house. When they arrived, Kekoa and Booth pulled out their guns before walking into the house. They found the room with fish, the crime scene, Thomspon lying on the ground holding his leg in pain, and Bones holding a gun at Thomspon while speaking with Oliver. 

“Okay. Okay. Did he kill Cleo?” Oliver asked. 

“Yeah, he killed Cleo,” Booth answered as he and Kekoa put their guns down. 

“Okay. Well, I'm down with him bleeding to death,” Oliver said. 

“That guy bleeds to death and she goes on trial for attemtped murder,” Kekoa informed him. 

“And you don’t want that, do you?” Booth added. 

“I wouldn’t want that,” Oliver responded. 

“No, besides, you know, uh, applying pressure, that can be very painful,” He told Oliver. Oliver went over to Thompson and bent down to his leg before applying the pressure. 

“The evidence said he did it, but… I don’t know why. No, it doesn’t matter. You know what?” Bones moved his gun causing Booth and Kekoa to step back, “Motive does not matter.”

“He did it to save his job,” Booth told her. 

“His job?” Boones looked at him confused. 

“Yeah, a senator in a scandal. He’ll lose his beltway fast track. It’s politics 101,” Kekoa explained.

“Yeah, it’s a tough town,” Booth said as he took the gun away from Bones. 

“Yeah, it is a tough town,” Bones agreed with a sigh. 

“Yeah, you know, in the future, uh, maybe Kekoa and I should do the shooting.”

“Why?” She asked Booth,”I’m a good shot.”

* * *

At Cleo Eller's funeral, all the squints have attended as well as Goodman, Booth, Bones, and Kekoa. Bones leaves the group to place a rose on Cleo's coffin while the rest watch.

“Is the FBI going to lay charges against Brennan?” Angela asked. 

“She only shot him in the leg… Once,” Hodgins said to Booth and Kekoa. 

“She didn't give him a warning. She just shot him,” Booth responded.

“And with alcohol on her breath,” Kekoa added. 

” It was her first shooting, you can't expect it to be perfect right out of the gate,” Goodman defends Bones. 

“How much warning did you give people before you sniped them?” Zack asked Booth. 

Shooting Zach a dirty look, Booth leaves the group to catch up with Brennan who is walking across the cemetery toward the road. He catches up with her and falls into step beside her.

  
  



End file.
